Tom Loewy: Choose sides? Choose unity in sadness

Friday

That’s how a number of Galva residents described their community in the wake of Xavier Hartman’s June 19 shooting Knox Road 2000E.

And many folks were rankled by that description. No community likes to be described as picking one side to the other.

Here’s the subtle part of that description that many of us missed.

After my story about Galva ran Tuesday, a number of people — off the record — told me they were personally “divided.”

“How are we supposed to feel — two families are grieving right now,” said a man who spoke to me after receiving a promise his name would not be used.

“This is part of the news, part of whatever, for people who don’t live here. But this is our town. These are people we know, families we know. This is very real. And it’s all very sad.”

The man told me there is some pressure to choose a side. The alleged nature of the killing makes it seemingly easy to pick a side.

What wee know is James E. Love shot Hartman in his left thigh during an altercation June 19. That bullet struck Hartman’s femoral artery, which resulted in his death.

According to investigators, the altercation between the two Galva men occurred after Hartman crashed a vehicle he was driving about 300 yards from Love’s property at 2900 Knox Road 2000E.

Love responded to the scene after hearing the crash and subsequent yelling. Two shots were fired by Love. Hartman was unarmed.

The court proceedings have only added to the confusion, according to a number of Galva residents.

On July 17, a Knox County grand jury declined to hand up an indictment of Love for first-degree murder, instead settling on charges of reckless homicide, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and aggravated discharge of a firearm.

In a rare move, the Knox County State’s Attorney’s office has filed a first-degree murder charge against the defendant.

The murder charge, if Love is convicted, carries a mandatory prison sentence of 45 years to natural life in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

You can decide Love was justified. Or you can side with Hartman, who was unarmed at the scene.

In my story, a number of voices said not knowing the truth of the events of that night makes it hard to understand how they should feel.

The man I spoke with amplified those concerns, and offered another prism through which to view the entire episode.

“For me, I don’t really care what happened or how it happened. There’s a kid dead and man in jail, maybe looking at prison. Honestly, the whole damn thing is just sad.”

It is the sadness, the man said, people might be seeking to avoid by choosing sides.

“I think, maybe, it’s easier to be angry for the kid, or angry for James Love, than it is to just accept the sadness,” he said. “I don’t want to have to choose a side.

“I just want to be sad about the death. Sad about the man who did the shooting. I want to be sad for a community that is trying to sort this out. But I don’t think we need to choose a side with our sadness. I think it’s OK to just be sad for everyone involved.”

The man added one thing I hadn’t considered.

“I think this community will have to find a way to come together,” he said. “The people — the families involved in this — still live here. We have to find a way to help each other, no matter who we think is guilty or innocent.

“I’m really hopeful the community can kind of come together. Maybe that sounds hokey. But there has to be life after this.”

Frankly, I was struck speechless by the man who took the time to speak with me in such a candid way.

We are asked every day to choose sides. And in doing so, I think, we lose some of our shared humanity.

As I mentioned in a segment of “Driving with Loewy,” I don’t have an opinion about the shooting of a 19-year-old kid on a dark country road. Or an opinion about the shooter.

But after speaking to a man who begged for anonymity, I realized it’s OK to simply feel a sense of grief. For a young man’s family. For the people who care for James Love. For a community wracked by a shattering moment on a dark country road.

Shootings are ever-increasing events in this still-small town of ours. And people understandably react with outrage and demands for justice.

Those are natural reactions. Yet through it all, what should guide us in the future is not reactions, but a sadness for the wasted lives those kinds of events create.

We can choose sides. Or we can see ourselves as united in our sadness, and recognize we need everyone in the community to find a way past grief.